I have to share something with you guys that is absolutely not related to the FY31AP or any other Feiyu product, but worth sharing. Snce this is the only threat I actively and regularly visit, I share this with you.

I was looking for another radio with at least 9 channels and since I am using Spektrum, I looked at either Spektrum or JR. But both with 9 channels or above are beyond my budget. Especially the receivers are expensive.

So I started to compare models and prices and stumbled upon Walkera Devo 12S. Most online shops sell this radio at more than 400 USD.

But this radio is amazing: 12 channels, telemetry and you can assign any control to any channel.

Just by luck I found a company called Himodel. They are in China and offer this radio for 385USD, including 12 channel receiver. It is www dot himodel dot com. I am a bit reluctant to order from China, but I must also admit that sofar I had no problems with other suppliers from China. So I gave it a try.

They take their time with the first order because they want to be sure the customer is for real, no dispute being opened from PayPal and then they ship.

But after that, this company is absolutely fabulastic. Never ever had such an excellent service and fast delivery. 110% trustworthy and reliable. They ship with FedEx, sofar every order has been delivered to the door, 1 or 2 days ahead of schedule. And the shipping cost is peanuts compared with what Hobby King charges. Only for the Radio I paid 50USD, the other 2 small orders only 16 USD per shipment. Delivery within 2-3 days!!!!

I had some question regarding backorder, reply within 1 hour.

Amazing.

There are still companies out there that take service seriously!!!!

Good to here that your getting good service out of China.
I just noticed that Himodel is advertising on this thread.
I've also just finished upgrading my radio and decided to go with the Hitec
Aurora 9. I like telemetry and flexibility with the channels and the 2 side knobs
that I plan on using for pan and tilt.

I have both the fy-31ap and the APM 2.5. I prefer the APM 2.5. It's cheaper and more powerful. It requires a bit more knowledge but it pretty easy to get working very well and the documentation is far superior. I have no trouble setting it up, i only leant to fly in april this year.

If your not happy with some aspect of the planes performance you can change it pretty easily with arduplane. The PC software is great, well written, stable, runs on old hardware, buffers the maps at home and has no surprises - settings do what you expect. If you are scared about setting it up in your plane just get a bixler or skywalker and download the profiles for the planes. I left my fy-31ap as the gyro got progressively worse and decided to try the APM when it became available for less than $100.

It's fantastic and the adons (air speed sensor and osd are about $20
each too).

Where did you find it for less than 100.00, and the add ons. Very interested

How do you guys like this system? I have a dragon OSD and I'm thinking about trying out something different. I need it to have an OSD and stabalization. I've been looking at the fy31AP and the adrupilot 2.5. What do you guys think?

Get both.
First start off with the Fy-31AP because it's a great introduction auto pilot.
Then get the Ardupilot if you want to step to an autopilot that has the ability to measure air speed or add on an external magnetometer , sonar, and any other kind of sensor you can think of.

It was junk when I was into it 3 years ago and I got tired of them coming out with new hardware promising this time it will work.... Maybe it's worth a re-visit.

Steve

Ya, I know what your saying, 2 years ago I had a bit of a grudge with the DIY Drones gang for awhile about how the hardware that I just bought was already outdated.
I also didn't like that I had to go to several different websites to download fimware.
But now they've made it real easy. It's worth a revisit
For a while there I also didn't like the idea of using open source programming of autopilots but now I think it's the way to go.

Thanks for the great and helpful thread. Must say the GCS set up is a pain without your helpful tips. thumbs up to steve.

Lol now my question...

1.when we plug in the usb cable, the fy31ap seems to get power supply from the usb.
Now when i need to check my switch status on the radio through the gcs, i need to plug in the receiver connection which apparently also carries power supply through the aileron channel to the fy31 ap.... will this not double up power supply??

2.Do i always have to set up my home and altitude initialization every time i start up fy31ap? or once set it is recorded in the fy31ap as a standard?

3.I am only using the feiyutech GCS and thus i havent seen the need for making maps...as google maps seems to open within the gcs..am i really on the right track here?

4.Every time i start up the feiyutech gcs it starts up some where in hongkong is that normal?only after connection and gps lock it brings me to current location.That normal?

Thanks for the great and helpful thread. Must say the GCS set up is a pain without your helpful tips. thumbs up to steve.

Lol now my question...

advise will be appreciated

1.when we plug in the usb cable, the fy31ap seems to get power supply from the usb.
Now when i need to check my switch status on the radio through the gcs, i need to plug in the receiver connection which apparently also carries power supply through the aileron channel to the fy31 ap.... will this not double up power supply??

Modern PC's and notebooks are well protected against USB double power. But the best thing is to disconnect the USB power wire going to the 31 when you use the onboard power.

2.Do i always have to set up my home and altitude initialization every time i start up fy31ap? or once set it is recorded in the fy31ap as a standard?

It is not recorded and you have to do it every time. To tell you the truth, I never do it. Our site is about 40 mtrs above sealevel and I like those extra meters when I fly. So it actually flies at 140 meters when I program 100 meters.

3.I am only using the feiyutech GCS and thus i havent seen the need for making maps...as google maps seems to open within the gcs..am i really on the right track here?

GCS 3D does, GCS 4 doesn't. For GCS 4 you need to make a map. Our site does not have WiFi, so I use GCS 4 and have the map loaded.

4.Every time i start up the feiyutech gcs it starts up some where in hongkong is that normal?only after connection and gps lock it brings me to current location.That normal?

1.when we plug in the usb cable, the fy31ap seems to get power supply from the usb.
Now when i need to check my switch status on the radio through the gcs, i need to plug in the receiver connection which apparently also carries power supply through the aileron channel to the fy31 ap.... will this not double up power supply??

Modern PC's and notebooks are well protected against USB double power. But the best thing is to disconnect the USB power wire going to the 31 when you use the onboard power.

2.Do i always have to set up my home and altitude initialization every time i start up fy31ap? or once set it is recorded in the fy31ap as a standard?

It is not recorded and you have to do it every time. To tell you the truth, I never do it. Our site is about 40 mtrs above sealevel and I like those extra meters when I fly. So it actually flies at 140 meters when I program 100 meters.

3.I am only using the feiyutech GCS and thus i havent seen the need for making maps...as google maps seems to open within the gcs..am i really on the right track here?

GCS 3D does, GCS 4 doesn't. For GCS 4 you need to make a map. Our site does not have WiFi, so I use GCS 4 and have the map loaded.

4.Every time i start up the feiyutech gcs it starts up some where in hongkong is that normal?only after connection and gps lock it brings me to current location.That normal?

Yep.

I've started using the 2D GCS V4.0 software for way-point programming and remote maps etc instead of the unstable GCS.

you need to set failsafe so that the channel assigned to RTL has RTL selected (this will over ride all other modes) and make sure you have at least half throttle so the plane can fight the wind.

This will all be specific to your transmitter and receiver. You can test it on the ground by removing the prop and turning off your TX. then observe that your throttle goes up and the plane is in RTL mode either by seeing it on your OSD or GCS or by banking the plane back and forth.... just make sure you set it for RTL and not auto circle mode